There Is No Spoon
by ideasofmany
Summary: Uber. LAAM. Uber Xena and Gabrielle in the world of the movie, "The Matrix"
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own the original ideas from Xena or The Matrix

Summary: This is an Uber story imitating the plot and environment of The Matrix with Uber versions of Gabrielle and Xena as the main characters. (Yeah believe me, I have no idea what I was thinking) Also, Uber Gabrielle is living as a man(LAAM).

Warning: Some adult language

**Chapter 1: Content Just Existing**

**Thane aka Morph  
**

I rub my eyes because of the light assaulting me from the window in my room. I honestly can't stand the fact that I have a window in my room. I could be perfectly content with the dark, the hum of my computer, and the light emanating from it's monitor. Contrary to most, my neurotic self rather revel in its dull glow, than to save energy with a screen saver. Another work day has arrived and I drag myself out of the warmth and comfort of my bed. I curse the day. What do I have to look forward today? Oh nothing at all, just another day of some person telling me how to automate a process, turning it into a song and dance, ending with a totally useless product. It is tedious. Day in and day out, I have to hear them blather on about how they think this would be the next big thing. When I first got the job, I looked forward to it, but much like most of life, you underestimate how much things are about the almighty dollar and not at all altruistic. It leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

It's always been strange for people to understand, but when I get home I go straight back to sitting at the computer. I forget about the nine to five, and pursue my own projects. What projects you ask? Well you name it. Sometimes I'll script something to play my games for me, sometimes I data mine, sometimes I write something to set up and cold call people with a random quote from a quotation book. Sometimes I'll transfer money to charities across the nation. Why you ask? Because I can. Information is key to knowledge and power, but to be honest, the only part that interests me is that I can do it. That I can write the code to make it do what I want. I could almost care less about the data it gathers. The excitement of starting a new challenge, to being stuck on trying to find a work around, to get it to do what I need. It is all intoxicating. It is my drug. A drug that I can't seem to get enough of. I am known as Morph in the underground circles. I'm known as a black and white hat, since the things I've done, straddle the line between malicious and helpful.

A year ago I stumbled upon a system that resisted my prodding at its exploits and my brute force attacks. It has become an obsession for me to find out what this system is, and to finally find a way in. All I have found out so far is its name; the Matrix. Given my desire to problem solve, I refuse to accept that there is no way in. I will keep trying. I'll exhaust every pathway until I find my key in. It is the way I am, I refuse the impossible because no matter how impossible something seems, sometimes all it takes is the ingenuity to take even the smallest opening to blow it wide open. Some call it hacking, I see it as searching for the ultimate challenge.

I push the covers off and pad over to the bathroom. I've been sleeping in my underwear lately, I find it reminds me the status of my physique. I've been blessed with a great metabolism but I eat more than most people of my stature, which means I should never miss out on my daily exercise. I'm short, 5'4'' in fact, petite in appearance, but stout in my appearance. I seem to build muscle quite easily. A gift I appreciate while taking in my well defined stomach. I scratch at my dirty blond hair, and harrumph at the cowlicks standing up from my sleep. Not something you would hear everyday, but every morning I am reminded that I am living as a man. I bind myself, deepen my voice, and play out a role I never intended to last so long. How did I end up doing this you ask? Well, I'll tell you the short of it. As a woman in a software engineering field, it is often times hard to prove yourself. It is also sometimes hard to get a job. In a field dominated by males, they worry you won't fit in with their way of thinking, their jokes, and their activities. They also think you'll leave in pursuit of being barefoot, pregnant, and a domestic goddess. Sometimes I don't blame them. It is the nature of the beast of information technology field. Many women start out in the field and give it up. I'm not one. My love for computers and the challenge of developing keeps me coming back. So I know what it is like to be the needle in a haystack. Most times I have no problems with the way it is, but sometimes I'm crushed under the weight of it. The last time it crushed me was when it finally gave way to a break in my sanity.

I had been out of a job due to the recession and was going for interviews and couldn't seem to find luck. Most likely because of my age. Usually women of twenty eight start deciding to make families and I'm sure it kept me out of a job. Then I stumbled upon my dream job. A job with Metacortex; a well respected software company. It wasn't the company that appealed to me, it was the projects they were working on. From biotechnology to artificial intelligence; two things that have always held my interest. When I went for an interview, everything went well, but I didn't get the job. Somehow I was passed up by a programmer with less credentials and experience than I. How do I know? Any piece of information stored electronically, I can get it. I chalked up my lack of hiring to the good ole boys club; since the team of fifty programmers occupying the jobs did not include one woman. So with a purpose I set about to test my theory. I cut my hair and I practiced mannerisms. It wasn't hard since I'd always been a bit of a tomboy. For once in my life it would benefit me. It helped me masquerade my way into the boys club. I reapplied for the job and, surprise! I got the job. So here I am now. Who am I? I am Thane Everton; born female. Mass database updated to become Thane Everton; male, since birth. My green eyes stare back at me as I look myself in the mirror. Naked in front of the mirror is the only time I really know who I am. Or do I?

**Avalon  
**

Morrigan instructed me to keep tabs on the hacker, Morph, who was competing with my own exploits. He was building a name throughout the underground, rivaling my own. I've gotten into numerous federal databases, and others, to suit the needs of our team. To the underground, it is no secret that I am out to cause chaos in every way possible. In his case, no one really understood his activity. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to the systems he has gained access to. His hacking has been random and difficult to determine the purpose behind, at times he didn't so much as leave an easter egg or two. For a long time he didn't even interest us, flying off the radar. Then one day his attempts hit our mutual interest. We traced the recent attempts on the Matrix to him. Immediately Morrigan asked me to track him and keep an eye on him; he seems like an ideal candidate to wake up. Unfortunately we were not the only one's whose attention they've grabbed. Every time I've tried to make contact, we were ambushed by agents dead set on keeping us at a distance. Perhaps they can feel that we may have another 'red pill'(another person to wake up to the malevolence of the virtual reality that is known as the Matrix).

I sit in a dingy old abandoned factory. 125 Horton Road. What remains of a surveillance room is all that surrounds me. I spot my reflection in the glass of the television monitors that have long since been rendered useless. Cracks adorn many of them that were once part of an array that takes up a majority of the wall. I never imagined myself to be vain, but looking at my reflection, I can't help but feel vain. My residual self image in the matrix brings out the bad ass biker chick in me. I indulge in wearing a latex cat suit, something I probably would never wear in reality. My black hair is long and flowing, unlike the actual hair I possess, which is short and easy to manage. My bright blue eyes portray a calm that I know would not come otherwise, outside this realm. I am who I need to be in this place. I need to be a cold, calculating, agent killing machine. This place is an illusion. I feel powerful in this realm, even though in reality, I am just a normal woman fighting at the side of her friends in a pitiful outlawed existence at the hands of machines. It is a life that we intend to change.

I wait for the call from Zero to exit the Matrix. My mission to send our potential 'red pill' a cell phone for our first contact is now completed. I am now on my way out. I call in with my own cell.

"Operator." Zero says at the other end of the line.

"It's Avalon. I'm here." I inform.

I hear typing at the other end and he responds with his gruff dark voice. Zero has always bothered me. He's not someone I'd readily trust with my life, but in our real world, beggars can't be choosers.

"It's at the end of the hall at the front desk." he tells me.

I instantaneously hear a phone ring and close my cell and put it back into my pocket. I walk toward the sound when I suddenly get a bad feeling in my gut. My suspicions are confirmed when the phone stops mid ring.

"Son of a bitch!" I curse as I hurdle in the opposite direction I originally headed. The double doors of the factory are burst wide open by the force of two agents who have now entered and I assume a third who seems to already been in the building severing the landlines.

I quickly turn around in my sprint away, to spray the two agents coming with bullets from my handgun. They scramble easily out of the path of the bullets. I need a window, a vent, anything! I need to get out of here and to a new exit. I pull my cell from my pocket and await Zero.

"Operator." He answers.

"God dammit Zero! This exit is compromised, you couldn't fucken check if the coast was clear?" I yell to other end of the line.

Of all the irresponsible, dick headed dangerous things, Zero was the master of them all. His ego and self importance only increased when Morrigan determined that; although he had the potential, Zero was not 'The One'; the person that will bring the Matrix down and return us to reality. Since then he's been a lackluster liability to the safety of the team. I'll not let him be the death of me.

"There was a phone booth on Evan and First that I noticed on the way here, set up an exit, or so help me Zion, I will fucking haunt you from the grave!" I demand.

"Got it." He answers back irritated.

I turn to face the agents, who are dressed in sharp gray suits, decked in sunglasses, who've now closed in on me a mere ten feet away. My escape has reached a dead end at the wall. I pull out my fifty caliber handgun and shoot the stucco of the wall ahead of me and pray that the factory isn't lined with cement. I fire my shots into a tight group, and am relieved to see that parts of the wall crumble from the impact. I barrel through the wall with my shoulder and go tumbling out into the streets. If I get out of this, I'm feeding Zero a knuckle sandwich.

To be continued in Chapter 2

**Author's note: Hope this wasn't too bad and that it won't ruin your impression of ubers XD. Thanks for reading :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Don't let me get me**

**_Thane_**

Do you ever get the feeling that you are being followed? Perhaps it's because you know that something you are doing is not acceptable to the world around you. It makes you hide and cower; guiltily covering tracks on any, and every thing you touch. Right now, I feel like that. I feel like what I've stumbled upon is much more off limits then anything I've encountered before. It's not so much that I'm overly cautious as much as I am starting to see suspicious activity probing back to my Morph persona. I've been careful believe me. I've used every means of obfuscation that I could think of, but part of me knows that I've overstepped the line.

I shake my head to move my unruly bangs out of my eyes. I spot someone in my peripheral vision. Someone I've never seen before. Believe me, I know I don't know everyone in this town, but something about her stands out to me. She doesn't quite fit here among the hustle and bustle. Her eyes hide behind a pair of reflective sunglasses that are pointing in the direction of my building. Wearing a dark pantsuit, she seems to exude authority. She nonchalantly leans against the coffee kiosk. I force my eyes to focus on her features, trying to memorize them. Her face is thin and long, her hair is dirty blond, tied tightly into a bun. Her cheekbones stand out beautifully in stark contrast to her thin dark pink lips. I plant this memory of her in the annals of my mind, because if I see her again, it's a good chance that I'm being followed.

I stow it away in the back of my mind as I weave through the sea of professionally dressed men and women funneling into our building like drones. Pushing open the doors, I find myself in the safety of my building away from peering eyes; or so I thought. As soon as I rest my cross dressing self onto my Herman Miller, scan my thumb print, and type in my password; my name is yelled from across the room from the project manager, John's office.

"Thane! I need to see you in my office." John calls.

I wince at this. The only times you get called into the PM's office is when you have scope creep or you have screwed up royally. Let's hope it's not the latter.

I lock out my machine and pull my earphones from my ears and walk toward his office. I take a deep breath as I enter. I am caught by surprise by a familiar ghost of a figure sitting at John's desk. For a moment, I am bewildered by the woman I saw leaning on the kiosk outside.

"How..Who?" I ask under my breath as my eyebrows crinkle in confusion.

There is no way she could have darted in here and found this office before me! John gestures to the open chair that sits across his desk. I have a seat in it, trying to pick my jaw off the floor.

"Thane, this is Ms. Callie Smith. She tells me that Metacortex is extremely pleased with your recent projects and would like a word with you for a possible side project."

Her eyes focus on me, sizing me up from my head to my toes. Perhaps in another situation, I'd be tickled by the fact that a beautiful woman was giving me attention, but at the moment I sense that a roll in the hay is not something she wants me for.

"I'll leave you two to it." John says as he backs away out of his office and closes the door.

"Mr. Everton." she begins.

Her voice is syrupy and feminine with a slight touch of innate malevolence.

"It has come to our attention that your programming and networking abilities exceed even the most gifted of our individuals."

I freeze in my chair. Shit! They know something. Perhaps it's the tunneling I've been doing through our servers and proxies.

"Thane." she repeats, eager to gain my undivided attention by standing up and situating herself in front of me.

She bends over, as she is quite a few inches taller than me. She places a slender finger underneath my chin. Lifting my face, she uses her other hand to drop her sunglasses so that her brown eyes paralyze me.

"We need you to find some people that have been a bit of an irritating rash in our systems."

I smile awkwardly and let out a nervous chuckle. Could it be me that they are talking about? It's entirely possible, and they are probably trying to pin me down. In the silence, I struggle for something to say.

"What do you need me to do?" I dig for any clues.

She turns abruptly back to behind the desk and continues her discussion.

"What I want you to do is track these people down for me." she says, as she drops a plain manila folder onto John's desk and slides it noisily over to me.

"They have no proper names, just handles; Morph, Avalon, Morrigan, and many others."

She prattles off and I almost feel like she is seeing right through me. I feel a shock of mild fear tear through me. I hope it's all in my mind.

"Track them. Watch them. Anytime you find locations, report back to me, immediately." she demands.

"I, I" All I can manage to stutter out.

"You are wondering what you will get for doing this." she sing songs. "Well Thane. What would you like?"

Her wicked smile scares me into submission.

"A raise?" I croak out uncertainly. I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. I might as well ride the wave into the hard place.

"Done." She stands up quickly and approaches me. She pats me on the shoulder, glances back at me, and waltzes out the door.

What in the hell do I do now?

**_Avalon_**

"You fucking meat head!" I yell as my jack is fully detached.

I push myself off the dental chair that is basically our home while in the matrix. I stand up and head straight for Zero; who sits his dumb ass still in front of the monitor. He is typing away like nothing extraordinary has happened.

"You could've gotten me killed!" I yell at him and pull his collar to me, burying my knuckles into his pulse points with abandon.

I see a flash of the man that I once dated, his well muscled build, and his dark good looks. If I knew then what I knew now, I would snap his damn neck if we didn't need all the people we could get. He grins his charming mustached grin and shows his bright teeth to me. Oh how I'd love to knock out a few of them for fun. I pull back my fist and aim for his two front teeth. I'm going to enjoy this.

My wrists are taken hostage effortlessly by a soft pair of slender hands, and the voice of Morrigan calming me from my dark place.

"Avalon." she calls me, "I'm glad you made it back. It was a close call. But we've got bigger problems."

"What?" I exclaim tersely, my heart still racing from wanting to pound Zero's head in.

"They got a hold of Morph. Agents are all over him right now." she reveals.

Her blue-gray eyes pained from the knowledge. Her blond natural curls betray her feelings with lightness and bounce, despite its greasy and unkempt state.

"We need to indoctrinate him now. They'll dig their claws into him and he'll be lost to us forever."

My jaw clenches in the trouble of the truth, my teeth grind at the action. He's an asset we'd rather not lose. Turned against us, we'd have no choice but to eliminate him.

"Prep the dental chariots and calculate an entrance, and get Zero out of here! I will not do this important operation with him holding the reigns." I demand.

Morrigan sighs loudly and reluctantly pushes Zero out of the operator chair.

"Get on the dental highway Zero." she orders him.

"Captain?" Zero attempts to protest, but she turns and drags him by the ear to a free chair.

She calls Javelin out to replace Zero. He comes running down the gangway, but trips over wires going across the bridge where he had been doing repairs to our ship.

"I got it. I got it." He announces excitedly as he runs toward the operator equipment, recovering from his fall. His tall awkward body his obvious reason for the stumble.

I give him a pep talk, "Screw this up and I'll twist your arm so far behind you that you'll.."

Unfortunately, I'm interrupted by Morrigan, also snapping her fingers and ordering me to my own chair. I sincerely hope this guy is worth it, because all of this extra stress is definitely not what I signed up for. I signed up for blowing the brains out of some agent scum.

I sit back onto the chair and Morrigan jacks me into the system. I really shouldn't, but I revel in the blackness that explodes through my brains, shocking me into instant immersion of the matrix. The rush that it provides me can only be rivaled by the feeling that engulfs me each time I run for an exit, or am placed in the matrix. Packet for packet is like a veritable explosion of power flowing through me.

"I'm putting you in two blocks from Morph's apartment." Morrigan says, focusing on the screen in front of Javelin.

He types away loudly, and away I go. Euphoria takes hold of me and I materialize in a shoddy bar bathroom. I wish that someday, they'll plant me somewhere beautiful, but what can you expect from a place still dependent on a land line. I mean, who still keeps land lines when cell phones, voice over ip, and instant messaging is all the rage? If there was a nice place, I've yet to be placed there. I burst out the doors of the seedy bar bathroom and ignore the looks of the bystanders. Pitiful sleepers. I fling my hair behind me and hit the pavement with a purpose. I'm going to track down Morph and turn his world upside down. I shouldn't find glee in it, but honestly, I welcome another sufferer. Misery sure does love company.

**Author's notes: Thane=Gabrielle, Avalon=Xena, Callisto=Agent Smith, Morrigan = Aphrodite, Zero = Ares, Javelin = Joxer **

To be continued in Chapter 3


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Destroy the Evidence**

**Thane**

I sit in my room flabbergasted by the events of the day. I knew I'd get caught one day. I turn to my machines and I use the most excessive means of wiping my drives to make sure that; if and when they come for me, my slate is as clear it can be. I know I'm being optimistic. I'm not naïve, if they have already walked into my life, they already know, but why help them dig my grave. I flip through the folder Ms Smith gave me and get to work at tracing the profiles. Deep down I hope that their trespasses have been worse than mine and that this is Metacortex's attempt at a slap on the wrist and bringing me to their side. One can only hope.

In my search I find strings of IP addresses, MAC addresses. I trace them and I definitely sense their masking. I mean who could jump from Alaska to Africa within a matter of hours. No algorithms I've come up with help me triangulate a position out of this dummy data. They've all been planted. I sigh loudly and swipe across my desk, sending my wireless keyboard flying into the wall. Is feeling like my life is on the line, based on what I can find, any better than being locked up in a jail cell? I ponder the question and pound my forehead onto the desk. No computers in jail, I'm betting. I'd be screwed. Computers are my life.

Picking up the keyboard off the floor, I resume my traces and thumb through the information in the folder. There are some lovely mugshots to go with the John and Jane Does lucky enough to make the shit list. A sea of faces. I wonder if they have mine somewhere. I hope it's a flattering one, but I bet they have a photo of me gorging on tacos. I love tacos. I smirk to myself. Tacos make me happy. The thought brings me to my happy place, where for a moment I am content. I have to shake myself out of it and resume my fingering through the papers. The set of people they are targeting look dark and dangerous, but I have to admit they are also remarkably attractive, with the exception of the one called Javelin. He looks sweet, but he doesn't look like he belongs with this bunch.

Now, one particular caught my eye. A beautiful blond bombshell wearing a pair of rectangular brown rimmed glasses. She was a stunner. Alias: Morrigan. Just my type, if only I was tracking her for different reasons. I flip past her to the next target since I'm out of ideas on how to track her down. I'm curious to how these real life ghosts managed to have only one picture in this day and age. Cross referencing images across the Internet for a match came up with these same pictures from the National Security Agency. I come across the one they call Avalon. Strong looking woman, her jaw is set and her eyes are sky blue, almost unnerving. A pang of recognition hits me, it feels like I've seen her before. Something about her speaks of deadly determination, so I know I would have remembered if I met her in person. I chalk it up to my stomach growling in hunger making my mind think crazy things.

I begin my search on Avalon. I activate my utility onto autopilot and set off to the kitchen to grab something to eat. I'm not too bad of a cook, but a table for one usually loses its appeal for rustling up gourmet meals, so I settle for a microwaveable meal of Salisbury steak and Macaroni and cheese. If someone looked into my window right now, I'd fit the perfect role of bachelor. I stick it into the microwave and stand by it when I hear a noise in the other room above the hum of the microwave. It sounds like a slight tap on a window. In my already paranoid state, I rush to my closet and grab my phone and my softball bat. My 'go to' gear, since the area has been having a rash of burglaries lately. I quietly enter the room, my back flush with the wall the window is on and wait. I'm going to hit a home run tonight. Burglar home run.

* * *

**Avalon**

I climb the brick building effortlessly, looking for Morph's apartment balcony. I've trained in the construct to find that I really excel at defying gravity in the Matrix. I'm a veritable cat woman if I have any hand holds or footholds. Actually, cat woman, has got nothing on me. I smirk as I finally reach the window. I observe Morph as he types away. Such a petite man. I feel bad for him. I bet he has short man syndrome or something. Mean little buggers always trying to prove their adequacy by masking it with meanness. I don't want to startle him nor do I just want to appear in the window in front of him. I can't just appear at the door as I'm sure that the agents are crawling all over the building monitoring the area, Scaling a wall in the dark seemed to be the more probable way to reach him.

I see Morph get up and head into the other room and so I make my move. Quietly as I can, I slide the window open. Thank goodness for trusting people who leave their windows unlocked. I'm as quiet as a mouse, but I hear footfalls and a door open. Damnit! She heard me. It's a good thing there is a bathroom in the room so I sprint in there for cover as I hear Morph return from the kitchen with a bat and a phone. I try to keep myself from snickering at the sight. He doesn't have a chance with those odds. I watch him sidle up to the window shaking like a leaf in the breeze, waiting for the window to open and for a dumb ass to pop out like a jack in the box. This cannot possibly be the one that the Oracle foretells. I observe him guarding the window. He's petite but not wiry. But, sorry to say for him, the best I could compliment his stature is that he would make a very muscular woman. Poor Morrigan. Here comes another disappointment. How could this pitiful specimen be 'The One'? Besides there is another secret that I haven't told anyone else either that confirms my suspicions.

On a visit to the Oracle, after everyone else had headed off to make arrangements, I was pulled aside by the Oracle. She told me a nightmarish destiny. I am destined to fall in love with, and die for 'The One'. Ever since then, I've practically dreaded every new potential 'red pill'. Who the hell needs love in a war zone? Someone tell me that. I sure don't. Just by looking at this one though, I know I'm safe. There is no way in hell that I'm falling for a pint size man who I can probably take down with my thumb. Speaking of which, it's time for action. I sprint for the howdy doody and know that he'll be powerless against me. The thought makes me giddy and a smile invades my face at my glee.

* * *

In a blink of an eye, Avalon darted from her hiding place in the bathroom to alongside Thane with her hand across her mouth. Startled, Thane swung the bat at the gust of wind and was shocked to find that the intruder was not outside the window, but actually behind her. A shiver of fear ran down her spine as Avalon, ducked and weaved to situate herself in front of Thane. The blond took another swing in front of her, hoping for luck this time, but the brunette was inhumanly fast enough to catch the sweet spot of the bat and hold it in place before it could make impact. Thane breathed heavily in shock as she looked straight into the bright blue eyes of the woman she had just been studying in the folder on her desk. The one her utility is scouring the Internet at this moment. She remembered that dangerous look in Avalon's eyes and winced at what was to come. She surely had discovered her digging into her business and probably came to assassinate her. Thane swore immediately to stop watching all action movies involving assassins if she could just survive this ordeal.

"Oh Hades! Don't kill me. They told me to do it!" Thane yelled, shutting her eyes and wincing bracing for impact.

"Wow, quite the fortitude you've got there young man." Avalon sneered, "How Pathetic." she thought. This joker was all talk and no fighting skills compared to her. It disgusted her.

"I'm not here to kill you, but you need to listen carefully and do everything I say. Otherwise I will throw you out that window and blame it on agents, do you hear me Morph?"

Thane stiffened at the nick name used. "My name is Thane, thank you very much. At least address me properly before you kill me."

It was obvious now that Avalon was probably here to kill her. To cover her tracks of anything she had found. The only thing was that it didn't make sense that she is bothering with the ruse that she wasn't going to annihilate her.

"I don't believe you. Just kill me will you? It's probably better than living in paranoia that Metacortex or the NSA is using me to get to you before they kill me." Thane replied.

"One moment you are begging for your life like a coward, and now you want me to off you. You must be insane. Or Bipolar." Avalon answered, yanking the bat and tossing it onto the bed, demonstrating that she wasn't here to bludgeon her to death.

"Look, Morrigan sent me. One word, Matrix." Avalon stated, hoping to clear up the misunderstanding.

Thane's eyes opened wide in shock. Although fear rushed through her veins and her body screamed to run, Thane answered instead, "Take me to her! I want to know what it is!"

Her self preservation was overcome by her thirst to know the mystery behind the veritable Fort Knox of her exploits.

Avalon pulled out her knife from it's sheath within her bra and came toward Thane with a look of determination. She pinned Thane to a wall and cupped her hand over her mouth. Thane struggled, but couldn't get loose from Avalon's hold. The brunette brought the knife to Thane's stomach, just above her navel and pierced the skin with precision.

To be Continued in Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews on the previous chapters :). Reminder: Thane=Uber Gabrielle, Morrigan=Uber Aphrodite, Avalon=Uber Xena. Also, everyone thinks Thane is a man when in fact she is a woman.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Breaking the bounds of reality**

Legend: Xena = Avalon, Gabrielle = Thane, Morrigan = Aphrodite, Ms Smith = Callisto

**Avalon**

I was about to rock this man's world. Not in a good way, but I was going to enjoy it. With precision, I went straight for the stomach. For the greatest effect, I liked to get them where they could see. I stabbed before he even knew what was coming and cut away the skin.

"What the hell are you doing!" the coward exclaimed.

I made another stab despite the protest. He screamed in protest and pain. "Oh God! Are you crazy!"

I braced for the punches and swings, Thane began to thrash at me. Ah the lovely fight of survival mode. He socked me across the jaw. A good one, made me wonder for a second if maybe I had underestimated him. I let go and he began clutching bewildered at his stomach. I smirked waiting.

"Are you freaking crazy? I have to get to the hospital. What is wrong with you?"

"It's essential for me to show you our world." I smirked.

I enjoy tearing apart people's grip on reality. The joy it brings me, I should feel guilty for, but maybe I just like the company. I drop my grip and let him drop to the ground. I reach for the stab wound and begin searching for the plant. For a moment I am bewildered, because it isn't there. I freeze for a moment, blood on my fingers and activate my communication device.

"Morrigan, there is no tracking device." I'm guessing I look extremely dumbfounded because Thane stares back at me in confusion. I hear a crackle from the other side, followed by Morrigan's voice.

"She's got to be the one." My nose crinkles and I stare at him in disdain and turn away, my fingers stained in blood.

"Bring him in." she says. My heart is beating wildly, and I really am not sure what to think. Every matrix dweller had a plant. I am a bit afraid to acknowledge what this could mean, but I follow her orders anyway.

"Get your clothes on, I'll bring you to Morrigan." I say dryly.

**Thane**

After miss dark and deadly decided to play with my insides, I counted my lucky stars that she didn't find out my secret. That would have been really awkward to explain. For a while I've felt like I've been losing my mind, but the fact that I was following a woman who just stabbed me in the stomach through dark alley ways, in the rain, had me wondering if I've gone off the deep end.

Out of breath I ask, "Look, can we stop for a moment. The bleeding is stopping but it kind of stings. Can't we just stop by a doctor for just a second."

She stops and turns abruptly to me. All I could see was the whites of her eyes, her black attire camouflaging the rest of her in the pale moonlight. She was quite elegant and beautiful, in a dangerous kind of way. I haven't know her long, but I have a feeling she's rolling her eyes at me.

"We don't have time to waste. I'm bringing you to Morrigan. If we have to get you some painkillers for your wussiness, we'll be screwed. They'll catch us, and you'll never know about the precious matrix."

I push harder on my wound to stop the bleeding, and find it suddenly doesn't hurt as bad. She turns back around, and she probably doesn't even check if I am still following her. I don't think she likes me at all.

I sprint to catch up to her and we round one more dark alley. At the end of the alley is an abandoned warehouse. She kicks in a door and breaking and entering comes to mind, but I know this is far less than she probably has done before. The warehouse is empty and vast with empty metal shelves. At the far end of the building a tiny office sits, the windowed door revealing a light.

"Wait here." She says, I can't help but obey.

The object of my obsession will finally be revealed. What could it possible be? Would it be money laundering? Some kind of advanced DNA sequencing, extortion, alien lifeform contact software? What would need to be hidden from public eyes. My mind goes wild with the possibilities as I hear her reach the office and shut the door behind her. Perhaps it's just a top secret medical AI that could help get that permanent stick out of Avalon's ass. One can only hope.

**Avalon**

"I brought the kid." I grumbled. Morrigan smiles and can't wait to get her hands on him.

"Well? Where is he?" Morrigan asks.

Not quite sure why I didn't bring him over already, I shuffle back to the door.

"Uh yeah, just thought I'd give you some warning."

"Warning for what Avalon. This is what we've all been waiting for."

"I just don't think he's 'One' material. I don't think you should get your hopes up."

Morrigan chuckles a bit and puts her arm around my shoulder. "Look. I know about your prophecy too you know."

I stare back at her in shock. "The Oracle is a blabber mouth. She isn't always right you know." I respond.

"Avalon, believe me, if she knew you like I know you, she'd probably think her prophecy is a crock too. Don't worry about it. Let's just take this like we always do. Let's open his eyes to a bright new world."

"Yeah, bright. Sure." I say, trying hard not to roll my eyes. I pull away from her grasp and head off to get Thane. Morph. What's his face.

I stride straight for him and I notice a smirk on his face. I'd gladly slap it off his face if it wouldn't disappoint Morrigan.

"She's ready for you now. Don't get any bright ideas because no one will miss a geeky deviant like you." The smirk slides off his face and his countenance changes to a guarded one. Just like I like it. I hate it when people try to be my friend. I turn to walk back to the office I left Morrigan in. Wordlessly he follows me, silent for the first time and I wonder if maybe I went a little too far with the threat. Nah. I open the door and nudge him in and shut the door behind me as I guard their discussion. Someone's life is going to be turned upside down, inside out, and chewed up and regurgitated. I can hardly contain my glee.

**Thane**

I cautiously walk forward and find Morrigan at a desk with a high backed chair, turning to greet me. She fiddles with a drawer and grabs out contents I can't see from here. Standing up she holds out her hand for me to shake. She's as flawless as her picture in the records.

"Some help you got there Morrigan." I complain, taking in her hand for a shake.

"Ah, don't mind Avalon. Really she's a gentle soul with many skills."

I harumph at the thought. "Really? She seems to be lacking in social skills. Now tell me, what is the Matrix, and why have you been dodging my questions this whole time. I know you are in trouble with the government, so it's got to be big."

"Straight and to the point aren't you." she smiles and I snicker at the straight comment.

"Look, Morrigan, I've been pinging you for months and I get nothing. You can't demand any loyalty when I have heard just about as much from you as the suits in the government. Null. Zilch. Zippo."

"Ms Smith?" She asks. "You'd do well to stay away from her."

"Is this all a ruse to keep me from turning you and your cohorts in, Morrigan?"

"You do what you have to do Thane." she answers, a quiet smile flashing momentarily, my respect for her instantly rising. The silence is deafening for a little bit until she starts speaking again.

"Have you ever had a dream. A dream so real that you could touch things, feel things, and almost taste things. Then you dream you wake up and you realize that you just dreamt you woke up? If it's so easy to experience such a thing, what else could possibly be a dream. Ask yourself, how do I know that this all isn't a dream. I want you to think about that. A mind is a powerful thing, and when it's manipulated, it's enslaved."

"What are you talking about. As fun as it would be to get into a philosophical debate of what is real and isn't real, I'm really just here to find out what the Matrix is. What is the Matrix? That's what I want to know. We can chit chat about things later." I reply sarcastically and then pointedly.

"The Matrix isn't something I can just tell you about." Morrigan's smile faded and her stance became serious. "If you are as intelligent as I think you are, you'll know things just don't add up. You feel it niggling at you, like something is not right. That feeling, that not knowing, that wonder, is the Matrix. It's like a cloak over what really exists, something that can never be unseen, unrealized. Are you really prepared for something like that?"

I worry for a moment that I've wandered into a psychiatric ward, or maybe a bunch of drug addicts on a high, but the will in her eyes and the tenor of her voice can not be denied. Curiosity getting the better of me I must know more. Yes I've sometimes felt there was something more to life, or that something was off. We all get that sometimes, but here she was purporting that there was some kind of reason.

I want to ask her. I want to find out what she knows. I'll kick myself if she starts going into some religious testimony. Against my better judgment, I continue and I want to know what she knows. It is my weakness, wanting to know what I do not know.

"Tell me."

"I can't tell you. You have to see it for yourself." she says, turning her back to me, she lays two tiny items on the desk. On the left a blue pill, and on the right a red.

"Damnit!" I think to myself. "I've just run into a bunch of drug enthusiasts."

She begins to speak and I'm startled out of my annoyance.

"I have laid out two choices before you Thane. That blue pill; you take that and you continue dreaming. Turn us in if you want, but you will never know what I know, and if I am right about you can't resist not knowing. However, if you take that red one.." She pauses for a second, and I start to wonder if there's more to it than just another drug dealer catching a sale.

"You take the red one, and everything you've known, it's all gone. But you will see the truth. You will know what I know."

All the logic within me tells me I should leave, walk out the door right now, not look back.

"I won't let you leave here without taking one." Morrigan comments. I wonder if she is privy to my thoughts. I calculate the odds that would allow me to escape miss dark and deadly and miss blonde and bombshell. I'm outnumbered and tempted. Well, if it's one or the other, I might as well take the red, the worst sounding of the two. I want to know, and really with the feds breathing down my back, what did I really have to lose. I reach for it and know that I will probably regret this day forever. I pop it into my mouth and swallow.

**To be continued in Chapter 5**

**Author's note: Thanks for reading. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Time to Wake Up**

Thane

I swallow the pill and shut my eyes, expecting to succumb to an epileptic fit and death, but something strange happens. I feel woozy and light headed, like I have a very strong alcohol buzz and I can feel my eyeballs twitching to catch up to it's movements. I open them, hoping to find somewhere to sit down. In my line of sight, I'm taken aback by the sight of my fingertips. Like a weird strange movie, they flicker and liquefy like mercury before me.

"What in the hell-" I say aloud as I struggle to search around for somewhere to sit.

I hear Morrigan explaining something about me accepting and allowing them to locate where I am. It makes no sense, I am right here in front of her. If this is a drug, it is the worst trip I have been on. I stumble toward the desk as my skin and my body seems to be de-materializing before me. I stand in shock, staring at my arms, trying to make sense of what the hell is happening to me. My vision is fading and everything goes dark as I feel the last vestiges of what I had seen of my body, tingling with pins and needles. It is like my whole body has fallen asleep from bad circulation. I let out a desperate cry of help, but I'm not sure if my mouth is even moving. Before long, there is nothing.

* * *

Avalon

I listen in on the conversation between Morrigan and Thane. After the small talk, I can hear that the pills are out on the table.

I activate the communicator, "Zero, you guys better be in place." I scold impatiently.

Zero and Javelin were supposed to have been in place to be ready to locate Thane's pod in the dairy while I got her to the warehouse. I call it the dairy because that's what it is like to me. The machines have people locked away in pods, 'milking' or using their brains for their purposes. The brain has always been an untapped resource of memory and potential. In a matter of years after the advent of artificial intelligence, the machines fashioned a way to harvest the brain's power. It wasn't long before the machines decided that humans were less destructive and much more useful as computing power. Humans became like cattle to them. There is no sentiment to their actions, they just see a means of getting the computing power they need and they simply take it.

A crackle over the device interrupts my thoughts.

"Yeah, yeah! Hold your horses." Zero responds lazily. "We're just around the corner. Give us five more minutes."

It's a wonder he can find his own nose. "You let this one get flushed, and Morrigan will never forgive you." I threaten.

"She's my sister, she'll get over it.." he answers back.

The dreaded flushing. The red pills that we don't locate in time are disposed of by the machines. With the flip of a bit, the pod's bottom will open and drop the wakened sleeper into their disposal level below to be liquefied and destroyed. I cringe at a memory of my own close call. I prepare to open the door to see the outcome. Did Thane take the pill or did he wuss out? I open the door and see that he has taken the pill.

"Go!" I yell across the communicator. In that second I hear their homing devices beeping loudly over the communicator.

"Got the signal!" Javelin verifies.

Morrigan is struggling to explain to Thane what is happening. Too little too late, I always thought. We can't tell them the real reason for the pill until they make their decision.

"Morrigan, he's not going to make sense of anything you are saying. Let's go before the agents start sniffing around."

She looks at me and answers, "I can't, not this one. I'm going to watch and make sure that we get this one. Then we'll leave." I growl my disappointment but wait cautiously with her. By now, Thane's residual image is laying on the floor doubled over, overwhelmed by the effects of the pill. The interference that is ported in the execution of the pill to mask Thane from the machines likely is throwing his perception out of whack. Without that interference however, we can't trace Thane's location, so it can't be helped.

"Zero has the signal! Let's go, we can help Zero and Javelin better from the ship anyway." I tell her impatiently. She reluctantly looks from me to Thane. I can see that she knows I'm right. To my relief, she agrees.

"Javelin open up a line out."

* * *

Thane

My eyes open to the shock of where I am. Somehow, from the floor of a warehouse, I have ended up lying down, encased in a container of pink fluid. A large, chrysalis shaped, horizontal pod. Things have just gone from bad to worse as I begin to panic. In this fluid I struggle and realize that there is a mask on my face and my head is attached to a helmet of some kind, and cords seem to jut from parts of my body. I seem to have a port on the back of my neck and somewhere I'd rather not say. I guess they have figured out my secret, since I am naked and my scalp is shaved bald. Have they made me into a science experiment? I desperately reach for the apparatuses around my face, and pull the cords from my body, because I don't know what they are for, or why they are there. It is foreign, and I want it off, and I want to get out of here! I neglected to realize that it probably wasn't the brightest course of action, as the pod begins to emit a trilling alarm that I can hear through the fluid and container and I remember that I need air to breathe. So I sit up and try to stand, out of the vat like a child birthed from their mother's canal.

The gooey fluid still clings to my skin and face. I do my best to wipe the slime from them, when my breath is caught and my eyes behold a nightmarish sight. All around me in similar pods, are hundreds of naked others; in the same machinations, unaware of their condition, in a dark arena of wires and cords. I can't help but wonder what kind of sick, twisted experiments, they have been doing upon us, or even for how long! I am dumbstruck because I don't know whether to flee or to take them with me. My limbs feel weak, and I feel like a newborn foal finding balance. I notice that the floor is not a floor, but my vat is suspended and connected to a sparse frame. A connected lattice work binds all of the pods to each other. There seems to many rows of them.

As I maneuver my way out of the vat, my sense of urgency is evoked because the vat I am in, begins to stop it's trill and begins to make strange sounds. I don't want to be near the thing, so I try hard to pull myself out with my atrophied limbs. Who knows what is going to happen. My questions are answered as the bottom of the vat suddenly opens wide like a trap door, spilling out the contents of me and my ill afforded home, my arms too weak to hold on. I cry out, but my throat seems unused. I try to look down down for a moment to see below me, what I see is a wide river of some kind. As I fall, my stomach does tumbles, my mind is racing. It is as if we are a commodity on a shelf, ready to be dropped like a purchase out of a vending machine. I hit the water, and the splash and the surface of water assaults my back. I'm going to drown with these useless limbs, but I'd rather die than be someone's experiment. I don't want to die, but I settle into the cold prickling water and close my eyes resigning myself to my end.

* * *

Avalon

"There!" I yell at the speck in the water in the monitors. Javelin maneuvers the crane over it. Drifting in the dairy disposal water below is Thane, slowly being drained to the treatment plant. The deluge of water and makeshift river is a throughway to the place where fluids and expended bodies are 'treated'. In other words, mixed with chemicals to liquefy and be reused or re-purposed. Expired pod dwellers are expelled at their death, and when the red pill is taken, and the signals are blocked, red pills are treated like the dead. It is important we locate them in time before they get too far along the deluge. I remember my swim. I remember frantically trying to swim my way out, but Thane seems to be out, or giving up. Really pathetic, such a shame. If this is who Morrigan is hoping will be the one, I don't have high hopes.

The crane is raised to the ship with the human cargo. Me and Zero rush to the cargo bay to get him out and to the regeneration chamber. As the crane comes into view, the sprawled out body of Thane Everton shocks us to the core. Maybe there is much more to this red pill than I have ever expected. I don't just mean the biological mindfuck that he, nay, she!, has put us through.

"Holy sh-" Zero exclaims, his eyes as wide as saucers, frozen in place staring at the woman who was supposed to be a man.

"Turn around knucklehead! I'll handle it, go prep the chamber." I tell him.

He doesn't react at first, his jaw is still slack, so I forcibly turn him around and shove him out with a kick to his behind. He regains his voice and says, "Nice!" in his annoying pervish tone as he exits. I turn back to the crane and use the blanket I have to cover her up. She is breathing, but not moving so I try to lift her up over my shoulder. As I dip to the floor, I freeze as her eyes open wide and our gazes lock. The green paralyzes me.

To be continued in Chapter 6


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Will Rise, Refuses to Shine**

**Thane**

My eyes open and are blurry. The only thing clear is a pair of striking blue eyes staring right at me.

"Am I dead?" I question, since it's the only explanation I could think of on how I got out of the water. "Why do my eyes hurt?" I ask while trying to clear them.

"It's because you've never used them before." a contralto voice answers. A brow accompanying a pair of eyes grows lopsided and slowly the whole picture is there. A familiar face looks back at me; it's Avalon.

"You!" I muster, barely able to move. "I'd rather die than be your experiment."

Her face quickly changes from a surprised look, to a sneer. "Is that what you think?"

Her eyes roll at me. Her countenance changes from surprise to her normal, and I could almost hear the change. Her voice is terse and gruff.

"You are awake now and out of the matrix. I'll take you to Morrigan."

Easily lifting me off the floor, over her shoulder, she carries me into the next room. I look around as she carries me like a sack of potatoes. All around me is metal, some kind of ship I've never seen the likes of. A spaceship in ill repair, if spaceships existed, but I'm learning that dreams(or nightmares) and reality seem to be converging. She ducks and enters a room filled with people, and for the first time I notice that Avalon and her team look like a bunch of homeless people. Their clothes are dingy and gray. They are either torn, or have holes in them.

"Would you mind putting me down?" I ask, a bit self conscious in front of a team of strangers.

As I am set down, she starts putting me into some kind of chamber. It's not very large. It almost reminds me of a metal recliner with an enclosure. They all stand beside one another, mustering up for introductions, or fiddling with the chamber I'm being put in.

"Thane! Welcome to reality." Morrigan smiles confidently, as if she is sure that I'd be thrilled.

I look around with a slight crinkle of my nose to the dark and dank reality.

"I know, I know. Your reaction right now is exactly that of every person that has made the same choice. Know this though; this is real. It isn't a machination of a machine. Everything you do from this point on is shaped by you."

I firmly wrap myself in my blanket as she continues with introductions. "This is my crew. Avalon you've already met." Avalon, a typical stoic warrior growls and rolls her eyes at me. I roll mine back at her. I think we've invented our own form of communication.

"Next to her are Zero, Javelin, Glyph, and Naja." Morrigan finishes.

I nod my greeting, as they all do their own half version of a hello. I take a short moment to look them over. Zero is tall and dark like Avalon. Ruggedly good looking behind his dark facial hair. Looking at him, I can tell that something behind that smile is something sinister.

Next to him, Javelin reminds me of a gangly teenager. A goofy grin spreads across his face as he stumbles to greet me.

"Hi! Finally great to meet you."

Confused, I only respond, "Likewise."

He shakes my hand up and down excitedly till I realize it's giving everyone an eyeful with every flap of my blanket.

"Oh! Sorry about that." He apologizes, as he casts his eyes downward trying not to look, and I struggle to swaddle myself in my blanket tightly.

Meeting them all in my birthday suit wasn't exactly what I had planned. Glyph and Naja chuckle at Javelin's antics, embarrassed for their friend, but appreciative of the comedic relief.

I look them over as well. Glyph is a tall built black man with an easy going smile and Naja is a slender pixie haircutted blond woman. All of them look like they've stepped out of a magazine cover. Well, except for their clothes.

"Exactly where am I?" I question, as everyone is still busy giggling.

"You are aboard our humble abode, the Hypatia. We are rebels of the human race; at least what is left of it." Morrigan answers. "I'll tell you more after your time in the chamber. Your body is atrophied, this chamber will restore you to what it would be if you had been using it and not been busy being a fuel source. Avalon, give me a call when she's done. Nice job by the way. You fooled us all, I have no idea how you did it."

"Did what?" I wonder out loud.

"I could have sworn you were a man. Yet, somehow I find you here on my ship with biological parts that beg to differ. That's quite a party trick you've got there."

Morrigan's smile is contagious, and her words are quite convincing. I can see why she has a crew. It is probably why I will soon become one of them. Sitting here now, I realize I have gotten myself into more than I ever bargained for. Sometimes you make your bed, and you'll just have to lie in it, even if that bed has sharp, sharp, rocks.

**Avalon**

Her eyes were unsettling. Maybe it was the shock of finding out that she was a woman, or maybe it was that she seemed to get past my keen perception and judgement. I don't make mistakes. Correction-I hadn't made mistakes, I usually saw through any deception.

"Will I feel anything?" Thane asks as I close the chamber and begin configuring it for her.

"Do you ever stop talking?" I answer, trying to concentrate.

She blushes for a second. "Actually, no. Not really."

"I suggest you try. You won't feel much, mostly muscle twitches. I suggest you don't move unless you want lopsided quadriceps." I tell her, while laughing on the inside. I can see her eyes widen in mild fear. Naja spoils my fun when she starts the initiation sequence.

She yells loud enough for Thane to hear her, "She's just kidding you know. Don't mind Avalon, she seems like a cold heartless murderer, but really she's just a cuddly" Naja pauses, and I stare at her, warning her with my eyes of her potential miss-step, waiting for the end of the sentence. "Cuddly cold blooded killer." she finishes with a chuckle.

The hum of the machine gets to full speed, making any further conversation pointless.

Glyph comes up behind me and set his hand onto my shoulder. "Hey Avalon, I see you are establishing Alpha ahead of time."

"Shut it Glyph. Just doing my job." The steady whir of the chamber hums, but Glyph attempts to compete with it.

"So how do you think she managed it."

"Lots of ways Glyph. I could probably have done it if I had wanted to. I just don't really understand why."

"So you don't think she's the one?"

"I don't know, but really there is no sense in pondering over it. You know how many red pills we've gone through. Let's hope for the sake of humankind she is, but I really don't want to think about it."

"Yes, but how many of them were female, masquerading as male, in the matrix."

I harrumph and I think he gets the picture, since he no longer continues the conversation and heads for the chow hall. Unfortunately, Naja picks up where he left off.

"What are you afraid of Avalon, big bad scary love?" Naja teases.

She is lucky she is my friend, otherwise she'd have a bloody nose. She was the very first person I met from the Hypatia. She was my lead; like I was Thane's. Despite her religious beliefs, I get along with her just fine. Religion is fine for some people, but not me. I want to feel like I shape my world, not that I'm stepping on every footprint to slowly fulfil a destiny. That's not me. Love is not me. One does not carry out evil just because a lack of beliefs. One carries out actions because their perception of acceptability. That differs in each individual regardless of beliefs and sometimes in spite of beliefs.

"You know I'm right." Naja rattles at my cage more.

"You are not! Besides, how would you know."

"The gin told me." she grins annoyingly, and my point is made. For a religious nut, she drinks with reckless abandon and uses it as an excuse to make bad choices. "I went back to get you when Morrigan went to see the oracle. I overheard what she said to you."

"I don't believe the Oracle."

"You don't have to, but I saw you on the surveillance cams. I've never ever before seen you freeze in place like that. The pussy caught the proverbial tongue!" Naja teases vulgarly.

"I can't believe you just said that."

"Believe it."

"Prove it."

"Have faith."

"Oh, gag me." I mock a retch to solidify my point, "On second thought, don't, I might enjoy it too much."

Naja throws a pencil at me and I snicker on my way out to meet Morrigan.

**Thane**

The chamber doors open. For a moment I'm unsure of what I should do. Since I don't see anyone around, I decide to stand up. I get out of the chamber and I finally feel like me. At least- what I perceived as me. My arms and legs work as I expect they should. Avalon soon enters the room, Morrigan closely following her.

"Hi! Feeling like yourself again?" Morrigan asks. She throws rolled up dingy clothes, just like theirs, to me. I don't catch them since I'm holding my blanket over me. She motions for me to hand her the blanket.

"Don't worry, I won't peek...much." She grins before turning around and holding out her hand behind her to receive the blanket. With the other hand, she twirls her finger at Avalon to do the same.

When they are both turned, I hand Morrigan the blanket and bend down to retrieve the clothes as she continues on her lengthy speech.

"You believe it's the year 1999 when in fact it's closer to 2199. I can't tell you exactly what year it is because we honestly don't know."

I am finished dressing so she begins walking and I follow her. "This is the main deck. This is where we hack into the Matrix." I look around and my nose crinkles in innate distaste. It looks like a dentist's office with a line of dark and metal chairs, surrounded by monitors and terminals. Morrigan has a seat on one of the dentist chairs and motions me to another.

"You wanted to know exactly what the Matrix is Thane? Sit back and Relax. This is going to feel a bit weird."

I watch as she takes her place on a chair. She calls out and I realize that Javelin and Zero are also in the room, typing away at a command line interface. "Start up the construct!"

They type away, still facing the monitors. I cautiously follow suit and watch as Avalon hooks Morrigan into the chairs and finishes plugging her in.

She turns to me next, and at first I hesitate, but Avalon gives me a look that tells me I better follow suit. I lay back and she proceeds to plug me in. She is finally at the last jack behind my head. As she connects it, a flash of light blinds me until a darkness consumes my thoughts. The darkness begins to feel like a rush of everything and anything; like late night thoughts invading and keeping you awake. I can't decide whether I like it, or if it is too overwhelming.

To be continued in Chapter 7

**Author's Note: A chapter for Silvermoonlight; who so kindly encourages me to continue :)**


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